Infinity.

Will it ever end? To paraphrase German philosopher  Friedrich Nietzsche "I have stared into the abyss and it has stared back." I've been flicking and carding and spinning (Oh My!) for days and it feels like I've barely touched the pile of fleece at my feet..... I would REALLY like to have this yarn finished for my big trip to BC next week, but I'm starting to think that's not going to happen....

I started with this:

Did a whole bunch of this:




I've spun this (I'm guessing it's about 150 grams, hopefully close to 2500m of singles, if it's less, I'm in trouble and probably won't be able to finish this yarn for my trip... I still have to pack for me, both kids and the dogs for a 4-5 week journey. Plus, I need to clean my house, take the car in for a tune up, check out Stampede, deal with Chey's last week of pre-school, keep both kids occupied AND knit my stripe of the latest WCOBBS blanket that I've volunteered for... this means that  I need to finish spinning this by tomorrow to have any hope of dyeing and drying this yarn to go. Yikes!):

and I still have this:

I had no idea........

Green Tee

This just in... my latest finished project... My own pattern, knit in Mirasol Nuna (40% wool, 40% silk, 20% Bamboo). I think it turned out very nicely, but I also think that it could have been better.... it needs a tad more drape to achieve the look I was going for. I knit the top at a tighter gauge than recommended for the yarn, as I was unsure of how the yarn would stretch when washed and worn, particularly with such a high silk/bamboo content. As it turns out... it didn't stretch much at all... a bit in width and a small amount in length..... I think I will knit this again, but in a slightly looser gauge for more drape and/or in a full silk (or soy or bamboo). I must say that I love the little ribbon through the neckline... very pretty....

Temptation

I am, basically, a monogamous person. I don't have the time or the energy to expand my focus and attention in a multitude of directions.... I like the peace and quiet of a singular relationship. The steady monotony and security appeals to me. Perhaps part of the issue is that I don't like to lie.... and I am a rule follower to the extreme and often to my own detriment. That's not to say that I am not occasionally tempted. Something periodically captures my attention and I waiver, ever so slightly, in my determination to remain faithful..... But.... I can normally reign in the wanderlust and refocus my attention where it belongs..... that was, until a few days ago, when Evenstar caught my attention...... I was immediately captured, enthralled, enraptured and beguiled.... caught up in the elegant beauty of the design and I felt something move, deep in my soul.....It was my moral knitting compass and it had shifted, ever so slightly (yes, I said knitting.... perhaps you thought this post would be more titillating than another post about knitting??).... It wouldn't be SOOO bad to start another project, right??? I am "almost" done my current project and it wouldn't hurt to have a slight delay in its completion, would it??? Maybe not for most people, but for me..... a delay in my internal knitting timer, sets off all kinds of alarm bells..... and yet, I am still tempted... I was mulling over the issue in the shower this morning, when the solution occurred to me.....

Spinning....... spinning is NOT knitting and therefore, does not fall under my weird internal monogamous knitting clause........ Take that! Justification as a workaround.... I wonder if anyone has ever thought of that before...... ;P

I plan to use the fleece that I purchased in April.... It's already been washed and a few locks have been carded (the staple length is too short for combing, which I prefer)..... 1400 meters of 2 ply lace weight should be just about right....  stay tuned...

PS... I know the side bar says that I have 3 projects on the go, but let me explain.... one is hibernating until the fall, when it will be more appropriate to finish it.... One is my travel project, which is rarely worked on at home... and one is my MAIN project.... my singular project that must be completed before new projects are started...... more justification, I suppose...

Justifiable bragging.

After what felt like a millennium and a half (in reality it took 2 months, plus 2 days), I finally finished my handspun cardigan.

I am magic.... I turned this pile of 80% merino, 20% silk roving given to me by my wonderful Dad and his very supportive wife:

Into a whole bunch of these, spun S: 32-36WPI (don't ask me about the draw, I don't know what it's called):

Which were then converted into some of these, 3 ply, 12WPI (plus or minus):

And knitted into pieces of this, (bang on gauge, except for the sleeves, which I had to reduce needle size for):

Which were blocked, sewn up and transformed into the final bit of magic. VOILA!:



It's purdy..... REALLLY purdy.... I had some minor spinning mishaps along the way, but overall, I think it went excellently. So I shall now proclaim..... I RAWK..... and move on to my next project..... which will not include a spinning component.

Spin-a-Sweater... coming along nicely....

Ok, Ok... I'll admit it..... The sweater should probably be done by now. I rarely take more than a couple of weeks to finish a sweater and I sort of figured that doing a spin to completion project would double the time it would normally take...... Which would mean that I should have finished about a month ago... and I would have, but I ran into a snag with the sleeves. I had plenty of yarn spun, plied and finished.... but one skein was over spun (I was being way to careful) and the texture and look of the yarn was wrong in comparison to the other skeins.  I knit the sleeve anyway, but in the end... decided I needed to spin new yarn. The other skein was 1 WPI (wraps per inch) fatter, so it threw off the gauge. At this point, I decided to put the sweater in a much needed time out and switched gears to quickly whip out my Cowl Shell and this shawlette, made with the handspun silk I  finished in March.

I wanted to use as much of the 400m as I could, but the pattern I choose used only 250m, so I added an extra repeat of the diamond pattern and made up my own edging... In the end, I used up all but 8g... pretty awesome, in my opinion.... I'm not super happy with the edging as I couldn't get it to block in any kind of pretty shape. But I didn't dislike it enough to pull it out and start again.... The finished shawlette is the perfect size for summer (I haven't taken measurements) and it looks great on, so I'm happy... plus I get extra bonus points for the handspun part... right??? Here are some pictures of the the sweater's progress..... just a teaser.... hopefully, I'll have finished sweater pictures within the next week? With elbow length sleeves.... 'cause I'm feeling done... elbow isn't "that" much shorter than 3/4 length... after all.....

The Pianist

Today was Eli's annual Piano recital.

He was SOOOO nervous he was nearly green (and apparently, not super impressed with me, eh?).

After a few false starts.... and a quick smack to settle his brains..... he rocked on....


Introducing.... Little Indian Lance




We went for Sushi afterwards to celebrate (his choice... my kids LOVE sushi!) and all was forgiven (he blamed me for making him so nervous, it appears as though my pep talks aren't very, uh... inspiring... unless I'm attempting to inspire vomit and rebellion... then I'm all good).

Gaining confidence?

I've been working on another design. I love cowl or draped neck tops. I think they're very flattering and they even make me look, dare I say, Busty..... I also LOVE silk, but didn't have any in my stash that would be suitable, so I went stash diving and came up with some Oasis Solid in a nice pink. I then got straight to work. I drew my design, knit up my swatch (and washed it) and researched the yarn on Ravelry to see what others had said. It was another yarn that, although it has fabulous drape, stretches when washed and worn. I took all of this into consideration when I cast on for my new top. Unlike my last design I had no problems and finished the entire top in less than 5 days. I tried it on, but it was too stiff to tell if it would work out the way I'd hoped... so I washed it and prayed...... I tried it on the next day and was thrilled. It was the EXACT top that I had envisioned when I had started the whole process....... and so, without further ado.....

If you'd like to buy the pattern, here's a link